Question:
Salam Dato’ Seri, is the statement that say if someone does not wake up at night to perform qiamullail, it is a sign that Allah does not want to meet him?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Qiyamullail is a verb that describes the act of waking up at night for the purpose of performing any types of worship. It includes all good deeds that one can do, for example, performing the tahajjud prayer, reciting of the Quran, praying and other good deeds.
Regarding tahajjud prayer, Allah SWT states in the Quran:
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُودًا
“And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.”
Surah al-Isra’ (79)
The Meaning of Tahajjud
Allah SWT states: (فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ) this verse means, wake up at night, and the word “الْهُجُودُ” means sleep, while the word “التَّهَجُّدُ” is wazan (word scale in Arabic morphology) of “تَفَعُّلٌ” the act of performing it and convicts it as it was originally.
Imam Ibn Kathir in explaining the meaning of tahajjud said: Indeed, tahajjud is: Something that is done after sleep. This is the opinion of ‘Alqamah, Al-Aswad, Ibrahim al-Nakha’ie and others and this is its known meaning in Arabic. This is also supported by several hadiths of the Prophet PBUH that states that the Prophet PBUH wake up from his sleep to perform the tahajjud prayer. The hadith is narrated from Ibn Abbas, A’isyah and others from the companions Radhiyallhu ‘Anhum. See: Tafsir Al-Qur’an Al-‘Azhim, Ibn Katsir (5/102).
Returning to the question, from what we know, there are no narrations that state: if someone does not wake up for qiyamullail, then it is a sign that Allah SWT does not want to meet him.
From an Islamic knowledge standpoint, saying or stating something about Allah SWT must be supported by strong evidences, and we are asked to control ourselves from saying something that we do not have any knowledge on. This is in accordance with the statement of Allah SWT in the Quran:
إِنَّمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِالسُّوءِ وَالْفَحْشَاءِ وَأَن تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“He only orders you to evil and immorality and to say about Allah what you do not know.”
Surah al-Baqarah (169)
The same is stated in another verse of the Quran:
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ ۚ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَٰئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولً
“And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.”
Surah al-Isra’ (36)
Reasons for Not Waking Up for Qiyamullail
The following are the reasons that would lead to the failure of waking up for qiyamullail from a few narrations and athar from the salaf. Some of them are:
First: Going to sleep late
It’s undeniable that the act of staying up late at night without any purpose is unbeneficial and a waste of time and it is also one of the factors for someone being unable to perform the qiyamullail. A hadith from Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
لاَ سَمَرَ إِلاَّ لِمُصَلٍّ أَوْ مُسَافِرٍ
“There are no conversations at night, except for people that is performing the prayer or travelling.”
Sunan al-Tirmizi (2730)
Syeikh Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mubarakfuri Rahimahullah when asked to explain the meaning of the phrase سَمَرَ , he said: It is the act of conversing at night. See: Tuhfah Al-Ahwazi, Al-Mubarakfuri (1/433).
According to this hadith, the act of staying up at night to converse is not permitted except for the people that are performing prayer or travelling. This prohibition is clearer in another narration by Ibn Mas’ud, he said, he heard the Prophet PBUH said:
جَدَبَ لَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ السَّمَرَ بَعْدَ الْعِشَاءِ
"The Messenger of Allah rebuked us for staying up (talking) after the 'Isha'."
Sunan Ibn Majah (703)
Imam Ibn Majah in his simple commentary said the meaning of the phrase جَدَبَ : “It means as a warning and precaution to us.”
The in-depth discussion about the ruling of this act and the implications can be viewed in the Al-Kafi Series 876 section through the link https://bit.ly/2HuOT1a
Second: Sins
Undeniably, the thing that would always bind and prevent someone from waking up for qiyamullail is the sins that are committed by himself.
Imam Sufyan Al-Tsauri said: “I’m prevented from performing qiyamullail for five months for the one sin that I committed.”
Imam Al-Ghazali when commenting on the issue said: “All sins are the cause for someone’s heart to harden and preventing him from performing qiyamullail.” Refer Ihya’ Ulum Al-Din, Al-Ghazali (1/356).
There is an incident that happen to a man where he asked Imam Hasan Al-Basri: “O, Abu Sa’id, indeed I sleep peacefully, and I love qiyamullail, I have even prepared myself with ablution, why is it that cannot wake up?”. Then, Hasan Al-Basri answered:
ذُنُوبُكَ قَيَّدَتْكَ
Your sins bind you (from performing qiyamullail). See: Fasl Al-Khitab Fi Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqaiq (9/400).
Factors That Help in Performing Qiyamullail
We share some factors that could help us to perform qiyamullail, they are as follow:
- Sincere intention
Someone must have sincere intentions in his effort to wake up for qiyamullail. If his intentions are sincere, surely, Allah SWT will gift him the ability to wake up during the night and enables him to perform his worships.
- Avoiding sins
As has been stated before, sins and bad deeds are the strongest bind and preventer for anyone to perform qiyamullail. A man asked Ibrahim bin Adham: “Indeed, I am unable to wake up for qiyamullail, please give me a cure.” Then, Ibrahim bin Adham replied: “Don’t you commit sins during the day while stand up for prayer in front of Him at night. Indeed, the gift of standing in front of Him at night in worship is the greatest honor, and sinners do not deserve that honor.” See: Fasl Al-Khitab Fi Al-Zuhd Wal- Raqaiq (9/400).
- Sleep early
In a hadith by Abi Barzakh, he said:
كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَكْرَهُ النَّوْمَ قَبْلَ الْعِشَاءِ وَالْحَدِيثَ بَعْدَهَا
“Allah's Messenger PBUH disliked to sleep before the `Isha' prayer and to talk after it.”
Sunan al-Tirmizi (168)
The hadith taught us to not waste our time talking about unbeneficial topics after isya’, for it would surely lead to someone sleeping late. Naturally, when the body is tired for not having enough sleep, it would prevent someone from performing qiyamullail.
Conclusion
To close, qiyamullail is a type of worship that is sunah mukkadah for every Muslim. Let us work hard and have the determination to perform qiyamullail as our daily routine by doing some of the things we have mentioned above.
With regard to the questions raised, we assert that there is no narration or proof stating that if someone does not wake up for qiyamullail, it is a sign that Allah SWT does not want to meet him. Even so, it is better for us to caution ourselves against the things that would prevent us from qiyamullail as we have mentioned before.
Finally, may Allah SWT give us the right understanding in religion. Ameen.